Automatic stave-equalizing machine.



' H. F. MARTEN, H. GRAHN & J. G. ANDRBSEN.

AUTOMATIC STAVE EQUALIZING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.23, 1912.

Patented May 20, 1913.

2 SHBETS-SHEBT 1.

Wi eases H. F. MARTEN, H. GRAHN & J. G. ANDRESBN.

AUTOMATIC sum: nqmuzme MAGHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APB..23,-1912.

' Patented May 20, 1913.

' IIMH Min...

Ln m m m m WiII'IEESEE Q I In r- I T- UNIT STATES rArrEN'r Oman:

nanny r. MABTEN, HENRY GRAHN, AND JULIUS c. AnnaEsnN, or snn FRANCISCO,-

' CALIFORNIA.

.; Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 20, 1913.

Application filed April 23, 1912. Serial No. 892,597.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that we, HENRY F. MAR'rEN,

HENRY .GRAHN, and Jones 'C. AnoRnsnN,

citizens of the United States, residing in the city and count of SanFrancisco and State of California, li ave invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Automatic Stave- Equalizing Machines, of whichthe following is a specification;

The hereinafter described invention relates to an improved automaticstave equalizing machine'and particularly to that type 'of machineforuse in beveling the ends of pail and tub staves, and has for itsprincipal object to provide a machine which after the staves are fedthereto,automaticallyalines the same, positions the staves to thecutting mechanism so that the ends thereof will be cut the proper angleand length, and auto from the machine.

5 sprockets, carried-by suitable shafts journuled in said frame, rotarycutting devices in the path of movement of said conveyer chains, deviceson said conveyer chains for engaging the staves to propel the same intocontactwith said cutting devices, means for gnidin the staves as theyare propelled toward t e cutting devices, devices adjacent to thecutting devices, for positioning the staves- ;to the same at an inclinethat the ends thereof may be correspondingly beveled, and means fordischarging the equalized staves With the above mentioned and other ob vjects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novelcombination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended; itbeing understood that various changes in the form, prowheels therefor,one of t e'rotary saws at chains, the supporting sprockets there or, theend guides for the staves, the'rotary saws within the path of movementof the, prospaced forwardly inclined side members 4;,

portion, size, and minor details of construction, within the scope ofthe claims, may be resorted to without departing from the s irit orsacrificing any of the advantages 0 the I invention. I

To more fully comprehend the invention, reference should be had to theaccompanymg drawings, wherein- Figure 1 1s a side elevation of ourimproyed'machi'ne disclosing the endless conveyer chains, the drivin andsupporting the discharge end of the chains, the lugs on the chains forpropelling the staves. toward the saws, the means for guiding the stavesin their movement towardthe saws, and one of the disks loosely mountedon the drive shaft for positioning the staves at an incline to the saws,and the chute through'which the equalized'staves aredischarged. Fig. 2is-a top plan .view, disclosing the conve er pelled staves, the springarms for forcing the staves against the conveyer-chains as'they arepropelled toward the rotary saws, and the disks loosely mounted on thedrive shaft for positioning the staves at an incline to the saw's. Fig.3 is a detail view of the drive and. driven shafts and the partsassociated therewith, the rotary saws carried by. their supportingshaft, the disks loosely mounted on the drive shaft, the rotary saws anda stave carried by the endless conveyer chains and in a positionafterbeing engaged by the rotary saws. Fig. 4a is a, detail view of thedrive shaft coupling disclosing the slots therein to permit of alinementof the chains. Fig. 5 is a detailof the mount-.

ing of the supporting sprockets and the elevating disks 'on the driveshaft.

Inthe drawings, the reference numeral 1 designates a suitableframe-formed of front and rear uprights 2, and 3 and parallel the sidemembers forming an inclined bed chine.

Extending transversely of supporting bed and, mounted to rotate injournals 5 secured to the side members 4 adjacent to the 105 rear endsthereof, is a drive shaft preferably l.0( for supporting the variousparts of the maconstructed of two sections of material 6 and 6, whichare secured together at their inner ends by flanged collars 7 and 7'carried respectively by the corresponding ends of the sections, thecollar flanges being detachably secured together by suitable bolts 8,said bolts being seated in cylindrical bores in the flanged collar 7 andextending through arcuate slots 8' in the flange collar 7 to permit-ofan adjustment as hereinafter described.

The drive shaft receives its movement from a power shaft 9 journaled inbearings below the drive shaft and is provided with a toothed gear 10,which intermeshes with a suitable gear 11 keyed to the outer end of theshaft'section 6'; the power shaft carrying at its end a pulley 12 aroundwhich is adapted to extend a belt (not shown) which receives its powerfrom an suitable source.

Mounted in spaced relation to each other on the drive shaft are toothedsprockets 13 and 13 which rotate respectivelywith the sections 6 and6,the sprocket 13 being rigcollar 7 thereof, and the sprocket 13 beingcarried by a clamp collar 14, which is capable of longitudinal movementof the section 6, and is keyed to rotate therewith by a pin 15 carriedby the collar, the inner end of said pin projecting within a groove 16extending longitudinally of the shaft section 6'.

Extending around the sprockets 13 and 13 are endless conveyer chains 17and 18 provided on their outer surface with engaging lugs 18' and whichare supported at their opposite ends by suitable toothed sprockets 19and 20, carried by a driven shaft 21 rotatably mounted in upstandingjournals 22, the lower ends of which are adapted to be seated intrackways 23 attached to the front ends of the side members 4. Thejournals are capable of adjustment longitudinally of the slots by thescrew-threaded shafts 24, which extend through suitable screw-threadedopenings in the ends of the track-ways 23, the rear ends of the shaftsbeing rotatably seated in the journals 22. Thus it will be observed thatthe position of the driven shaft may be varied and a takeup is providedfor the endless conveyer chains 17 and 18.

' The sprocket 19 is keyed to the driven shaft 21 in alinement with thesprocket 13, and the sprocket 20islooselon the shaft 21, and retainedthereon between the adjustable collars 24, which are movablelongitudinally of the shaft; thus it will be observed that the sprocket20 is adjustable longitudinally of its supporting shaft, to bepositioned in alinement with the adjustable sprocket 13' on the driveshaft; that the conveyer chains may be set the proper distance apart toaccommodate staves of varirear. vertically extending portion .of the.

guide rail 25 is severed from the horizontal member 25' thereof, and isinwardly bent as at 25 forming a spring finger 27, the tendency of whichis to engage one end of the staves as they are conveyed past the sameand force the other end thereof into engagement with the verticallyextending portion of the guide 26 to properly present the stave to thecutting mechanism hereil l- ,afer described. idly secured to the section6 adjacent to the The guide rails 25 and 26 are supported by suitablebrackets 28 and 29 extending transversely of the frame and attached tothe bed thereof, the guide rail 25 being secured to the brackets, andthe guide rail 26 being capable of adjustment longitudinally .of thebrackets by a bolt associated with the slots 30 formed therein, so thatthe guide rail may be moved to correspond with the movement of theadjustable sprockets 13' and 20, to accommodate staves of variouslengths.

Loosely mounted on the respective sections ti and 6 of the drive shaft,and positioned one adjacent to each'outer face of the sprockets 13and-13 are independently rotatable disks 31 and 32, hereinafter" termedtilting disks, the diameter of the disk 32 being slightly larger thanthat of the disk 31', but the diameter of the smaller 'dlSk 31 being notless than the diameter of the sprocket 13; the staves when propelled bythe endless conveyer chains are forced into contactwith the disks, whichas the staves travel over the same, tilt or incline fthe staves to theproper angle to be properly presented to the rotary saws 33 and 34,

which will sever the ends of the staves to the proper angle, that whenthe staves are assembled into a tub or container the sides of the samewill be formed with horizontal top and bottom edges.

The rotary saws 33 and 34 are mounted between clamp collars 35surrounding a :shaft 36, the ends of which are journaled .1n upstandingbearings 37, positioned immediately in rear of the drive shaft journals5; the shaft 36 being positioned slightly above-the horizontal axis ofthe drive shaft and provided adjacent to one end thereof with a beltpulley 38' around bracket '39 supported by assembled as in Fi which isadapted to extend a -drive belt (not shown) which transmits power totheshaft from any suitable sourceand rotates the same in the directionof the arrow-Fig.

. chains 17- and 18 and arranged between the same with their front endsattached to a the bracket 28, are a pair of spring arms 40 and 41.whichare downwardly curved about midway of their length, formlng an arccorresponding to the curvatureof the stave tilting disks, the rear endsof the arms being bent horizontally under the shaft 36 and attached to abracket 42 and each arm being normally retained in contact therewith bya coiled spring43 surrounding a suitable securing bolt 44 upwardlyprojecting from the bracket 42. The spring arms 40 and 41 serve toretain the propelled staves tightly in contact with the tilting diskswhen the ends thereof are engaged by the rotary saws. The staves afterthe ends thereof are beveled are carried by the endless chainsdownwardly past the contacting point of the arms 40 and 41', and thesame drop into a chute 45, of any suitable construction, and are carriedfrom the machine.

The machine is constructed to operatein the following manner, and theparts being s. 1 and 2 of .the drawings: Staves of sultable length areplaced by the operator on the conveyer chains, and they are engaged bythe lugs 18' and propelled in the direction of the arrowFig. 1. Thestaves intheir path of movement engage the spring finger 27 of the guiderail 25, and are forced-into contact With the vertical portion of theguide rail 26, the. rails positioning the stave in proper positionrelative to the rotary saws. As the staves are advanced they are carriedunder the spring tightly against the conveyer chalns and While in thisposition-are carried upon the edges of the tilting incline the staves tothe proper angle, so that when they the rotary saws, which operate inthe direction of the arrow-Fig. 1, the endsof the staves will be cut tothe proper bevel; after the ends of the stavesare out they drop bygravity into the chute 45.

It will be observed from the above description,"that a machine entirelyautomatic in all of its operations, capable of adjustment to accommodatestaves of various lengths and adapted to materially expedite the workofequalizing staves has been provided. 3

arms 40 and 41 which force themdisks 31 and 32, which are forced intocontact, with.

Having thus fully described our invention. what is claimed as new anddesired to be protected by Letters Patentis:- 7

1. In a stave equalizing machine,-the combination with an endlessconveyer for the.

staves to be equalized,- supporting sprockets for the conveyer, rotarycutting devices in the path of movement of the staves and po-,

' sitioned adjacent to certain of said sprockets,

and disks loosely mounted adjacent to certain 'of said sprockets and incoiiperative' relation with said rotary cutting devices for p0S1t10I11ng the staves to the cutters at an inclined position. fortheproper cutting and .beveling of the. ends thereof.

2. a stave equalizing machine, the .combmation w1th an endless convcyenfor the staves to be equalized, supporting sprockets .for the conveyer,rotary'cutting devices in the path of movement of the staves and po-*sitioned adjacent to certain of said sprockets, and disks of differentdiameters loosely mounted adjacent to certain of saidrotary cuttingdevices for positioning the staves to the cutters at an inclinedposition for the proper cutting and bevelingof the ends thereof.

said. sprockets and in cooperative relation with 3. In a staveequalizing machine, the com- 4 bination with an endless conveyer for thestaves to be equalized, supporting sprockets for the conveyer, rotarycutting devices in the path of movement .of the s'taves and ositionedadjacent to certain of said sproc ets, disks loosely .mounted adjacentto certain of said sprockets and incotiperative relation I with saidrotary cutting devices for posi= tioning the staves to the cutters at aninclined position for theproper cutting and beveling of the ends.thereof, and. devices for forcing the staves against the disks while thesame are being cut.

4. In, a stave equalizing machine, the combination. with a supportingframe, a pair of endless conveyer chains for the staves to be equalized,supporting sprockets for the conveyer chains, a pair of rotary cuttingdevices in the path of movement of the staves and positioned adjacent tocertainof said sprockets, and a 'pair of disks loosely mounted adjacentto certain. other of said sprockets and in coiiperative relation withsaid rotary cutting devices for positioning the staves to the cutters atan inclined position for the proper cutting and beveling'of the endsthereof.

5. In a stave equalizin machine in which the parts thereof are a'justable to accommodate staves of various lengths, the combination of asupporting frame, a pair of parallel spaced endless conveyer chains forthe" staves to be equalized, parallel spaced supporting sprockets forthe conveyer chains, means for imparting movement thereto. a pair ofrotary cutting devices in ends thereo staves in $65k path of movementtoward the cutting devices, a pair of disks of different .diametersloosely mounted adjacent to certain other of said sprockets and incooperative relation with said rotary cutting devices for positioningthe r0 elIed staves *tothe rotary cutters at an mchned position of thefor the re er cuttin and bevelin P E g spaced and a'pair of parallespring p'ressedarms for forcing the staves I against the positioningmeans while the same are being cut. u 15 In testimony whereof we havesigned our names to this specification in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

HENRY F. MARTEN. HENRY GRAHN. JULIUS C. ANDRESEN. Witnesses:

H. T. DOHEBTY, S. M. Domm'rr.

